Then I kiss her.
Like a Badger possessed.
Because I am.
By her.
And this time?
She doesn’t pull away.
She presses closer.
And when I carry her toward the glowing hearth and lay her down in front of the fire—her honey-sweet scent all around me, her heart beating just beneath my hand—I know this isn’t just a moment.
It’s ours.
The beginning of a forever that smells like cookies, sounds like laughter, and tastes like fate.
Chapter 23
Marigold
The first kiss had been about confusion, emotion, and the hunger of two people trying to explain with lips what words kept failing to say.
But this—this moment, this hush between heartbeats—was something else entirely.
Eb holds me like I’m made of magic, his hands cradling my jaw, his forehead resting against mine. His breath is warm, and his voice is low, thick with emotion.
“Tell me to stop, and I will.”
I don’t.
Instead, I reach for him, threading my fingers into his tux jacket lapels and tugging him closer.
“Don’t you dare stop.”
We back toward the overstuffed couch facing the glittering Christmas tree, and I swear the cookie ornaments wink at me like they know what’s about to happen.
I sink into the cushions, Eb following, bracing his weight on one forearm while his other hand gently explores the curve of my waist, my hip, then higher, as if memorizing every inch.
There’s nothing rushed about it.
No frantic tugging or wild flinging of clothes.
Just his touch, reverent and steady, and my soft sighs filling the air between us like falling snow.
When he finally removes the last barrier between us—my glittery teddy now a puddle on the floor, his silk boxers beside it—Eb pauses.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, awe in his voice, like I’m some rare celestial body that’s landed on his living room couch instead of a cookie-smeared small-town baker who has spent the last two days knee-deep in royal icing and heartbreak.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I murmur, brushing my fingers across his jaw, then letting my palm rest over the hard beat of his heart.
He presses a kiss there.
And then another.
Down my collarbone.
